5:50 p.m. Rachel Smolkin, Deputy Managing Editor for POLITICO

”D.C. is not prepared for a bombing like in Boston”

WASHINGTON – When the bombs went off during the Boston Marathon, it not only was a security threat to the thousands of people nearby, but the city’s health system and resources were immediately called upon.

Peter LaPorte, former director of D.C.’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security, says no matter how many drills are run in preparation for an emergency, a city never knows if it is truly ready until the worst happens.

“But no matter what, when the day of the event happens, you truly are tested. Yesterday, Boston proved to be very well prepared,” LaPorte said on WTOP Tuesday.

But is Washington, D.C. ready for such an emergency? LaPorte questioned that very thing.

“Could we handle 170 victims? How many hospitals, how far out would we have to go? How far would we have to travel … Every large facility, they have plans. When’s the last time we dusted off those plans and really tested them?